Chapter Text
Charlie tried not to giggle too loudly as he watched his boyfriend engage in a one-sided battle with the front door of his flat.
No matter how aggressively Nick jiggled his key in the lock, no matter the degree at which he inserted the key, the door stubbornly refused to open. And because Charlie was still very much feeling the effects of the alcohol he had consumed that night, he thought that the ongoing duel before him was the funniest thing in the universe.
It was an ungodly hour of the evening, though. Or was it morning? Charlie hadn’t thought to check the time before he and Nick left the party a short while ago, but regardless, the neighbors were likely asleep and it would be rude to wake them.
“Maybe it’ll open if you say please?” Charlie innocently suggested, and the glare Nick sent his way nearly made him burst into laughter.
His boyfriend let out a dramatic sigh. The building he lived in was rather ancient, and the door was therefore particularly difficult to open even when Nick was sober — something he was very much so not at the moment.
We may have to spend the night in the hallway, Charlie thought. Which was disappointing, because he really needed some water.
Nick aggressively pulled the key from the lock’s grooves, then held it directly in front of his face, nearly going cross-eyed as he stared at the piece of metal between his fingers.
“Please,” he tried desperately, pouting his bottom lip for good measure, which finally sent Charlie into a fit of giggles so hard he felt dizzy.
Perhaps the last drink Charlie had before they left had been a mistake. Or maybe it hadn’t been. He didn’t quite mind being drunk; as long as he didn’t feel as though he was going to be sick, he actually enjoyed the pleasant buzz in his veins and the looseness of his limbs.
Alcohol also helped him push past any awkwardness or insecurity he may have otherwise felt at the party.
The party wasn’t an extravagant celebration by any means — its scale couldn’t even hold a candle to the ragers thrown by Harry Greene or the wealthy Higgs girls back home. It had just been an intimate get-together with a few of the mates Nick had made at University for one of their birthdays.
Sure, Charlie had heard about this group of friends plenty, but tonight was the first night he’d actually gotten the chance to meet them. Nick said that his friends had practically begged him to bring Charlie as his plus-one, the whole group wanting to meet the boy who “had Nick Nelson wrapped around his finger” and whatnot (which Charlie couldn’t help but feel smug about).
Nick’s friends were great. It was nice to see his boyfriend at ease and enjoying himself around the people whom he’d grown close to over the months.
Back in September when Nick had first moved to Leeds to attend the university there, he had been so homesick that it broke Charlie’s heart. He missed his mum, his dogs, their Truham-Higgs friend group, Charlie — seeing his boyfriend in so much pain had been absolutely heart wrenching.
It took a few long weeks, but Nick had eventually become acclimated to his new living situation. He settled into new routines, began meeting new people, and managing the whole long-distance relationship thing had become easier for the both of them.
Nick met his current group of Leeds friends in October. And yeah, admittedly, Charlie was consumed by jealousy at first. At times, his texts or Instagram messages would go unanswered for hours at a time, and Nick would often ask to reschedule their Facetime calls in order to go out with his new mates.
On one night in particular, Charlie had blown up on his boyfriend for forgetting to text him that he’d gotten home safely after a night out. He felt as though he didn’t ask for much, just a simple I’m home text to ease Charlie’s anxieties, but Nick couldn’t even give him that. And yeah, Nick didn’t need a babysitter or a second mum, but that didn’t change the fact that Charlie was worried about his safety and felt that Nick was being dismissive of their relationship.
But, like they always did, they’d talked things out. They communicated, and they made things work. They always found a way, through thick and thin, ultimately driven by the love they shared for one another.
After saying a brief prayer, Nick tried the door once more. He tried a different approach to his enemy this time; instead of attacking the lock with all the force he could muster, he slid the key into the hole of the lock almost comically slow. Once it was inserted as far as it would go, he took a deep breath, flinching back as he turned the key.
A euphoric click echoed through the silent hallway, and the door slowly crept open.
“Honey, we’re home!” Nick sang in triumph, and Charlie didn’t have any time to react before he was being swept off his feet, literally. His boyfriend scooped him up into his arms and carried him into the flat on uncertain, wobbly legs.
“Nicolas, don’t you dare drop me!” Charlie yelped, and even though his words held a tone more playful than he’d meant, he really didn’t feel like being dropped onto the hardwood floor beneath them at that moment.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, sweetheart.” Nick replied smugly, but as he moved to nudge the door shut behind him with the back of his heel, he did nearly lose his balance.
Charlie aimed a pointed glare in his direction, but he received only a smirk in return. Idiot, he thought fondly. Nick pressed a somewhat sloppy kiss to his cheek, and then he was back on his feet, struggling to regain his own balance after being carried.
Water, right. He wanted water, needed it.
Dehydrated and determined, Charlie made a beeline for the small kitchen area in Nick’s flat. He stretched up to retrieve two glasses from the high cabinets, standing on his toes to reach the height.
He wasn’t surprised to feel Nick step directly behind him, nor was he surprised when his boyfriend wrapped strong arms around his center, leaning heavily into his back and dropping his head onto Charlie’s shoulder. Nick was exhausted, he could tell.
Setting the glasses down on the counter, Charlie turned his neck to press a kiss to his boyfriend’s hair.
“Ready for bed?” Charlie asked amusedly, to which Nick mumbled confirmation into his shoulder.
Nick slowly spun him around so that they were facing each other, the small of Charlie’s back pressing against the edge of the countertop that was now behind him. He angled his chin up slightly to properly look at Nick, and his boyfriend smiled before dipping down to capture Charlie’s lips between his own.
It was slow and sweet, familiar and inevitable in the same way that oxygen felt to his lungs, yet the kiss still managed to send shivers down Charlie’s spine, all the way down to his toes.
He had been going out with Nick Nelson for years, but he still managed to take Charlie’s breath away.
When they parted, Charlie’s hands found their way to the sides of Nick’s face, delicate like he was holding the universe in his fingertips. And he kind of was, to be fair — Nick was his universe. Nick’s lashes threatened to drift shut, the warmth of intoxication painted his cheeks in a soft pink hue, and his lips shined temptingly.
God, Nick was so beautiful. Charlie could hardly believe he was his.
“Go change your clothes. I’ll be right in with some water, okay?” Charlie spoke, and he didn’t mean for it to come out as quietly as it had, but he hadn’t quite caught his breath yet.
Nick nodded, but made no effort whatsoever to move. Charlie looked at him curiously, watching as a wide grin spread across his boyfriend’s tired features.
“I love you,” he whispered with a giggle.
“I love you more,” Charlie pushed a loose strand of hair from Nick’s face, his laughter contagious.
A challenging gleam sparkled in his boyfriend’s eyes, brows shooting upwards. Nick stepped closer, his grip becoming more firm on Charlie’s waist and his lips nearly brushing the shell of his ear as he spoke.
“Don’t start a battle you can’t finish, mon amour,” he purred into Charlie’s ear, a smirk tauntingly audible in his voice.
Charlie gasped, his cheeks heating wildly as he pried his boyfriend’s hands from his waist. He shoved Nick backwards, with just enough force to put distance between them but not enough to knock his still-tipsy body off balance.
“Go get changed!” Charlie tried his best to sound assertive as he snatched the glasses from the counter and stepped toward the sink, but he was quite obviously flustered. He switched on the faucet, willing away the urge to push his boyfriend against a wall and kiss him senseless that he always felt when he spoke French like that.
It…wasn’t working. Why was Nick speaking French so hot?
“Okay, okay! I’m going!” Nick conceded, and Charlie listened to the sound of his giggles slowly fade as he disappeared down the hall to his bedroom to do as Charlie requested.
Eventually, Charlie managed to compose himself enough to actually fill their glasses up with water. He set Nick’s to the side and brought his own up to his mouth, gulping it desperately. Once he was finished, he swapped his glass out for Nick’s and padded down the hallway to Nick’s room, exhaustion clear in his heavy footsteps.
When he entered the room, his boyfriend was already in bed, knees tucked to his chest under the duvet and a content grin on his face. Charlie had half-expected him to already be asleep considering the fact that he could barely keep his eyes open, but he had waited up for Charlie to come to bed. His heart tugged with affection.
Charlie offered the glass of water. “Here, drink some of this.”
He held the glass in front of Nick, but the boy stubbornly refused to accept it, hiding his arms underneath the duvet like a child. “I’m not thirsty, Char, just come to bed.”
Rolling his eyes fondly, Charlie held the glass closer to his boyfriend. “We can cuddle after you have some water, Nick.”
Nick looked at him with wide eyes before taking the glass, downing its contents in one go. Charlie watched him in amusement as he stepped out of his trousers and stole a shirt from his boyfriend’s closet to sleep in (and another one to take back home with him tomorrow morning, just for good measure).
The empty glass was set on the bedside table with a dull thud, and Nick looked at him expectantly, lifting the duvet next to him with a brow raised.
As promised, Charlie climbed into bed. They settled under the covers, and Nick immediately pulled him in as close as he could get him. Their faces were mere centimeters apart, and he watched as a wide smile crept onto Nick’s lips.
His boyfriend was staring at him, eyes shining in the dark. He could barely keep his eyes open just moments ago, and now he was…having a staring contest? Or something?
Eventually, Charlie asked “What?” with a short giggle, his blunt nails grazing lightly across Nick’s bare arm.
The smile on Nick’s face only grew wider. “I’m gonna marry you someday.”
The sentence took Charlie’s breath away, not just because that was the last thing he had expected to come out of Nick’s mouth on a random Saturday evening in February, but also because he wholeheartedly believed he was being genuine.
Charlie would have been lying if he claimed not to have daydreamed about marrying Nick Nelson.
Especially on nights like these, where it was just the two of them together in Nick’s flat, toeing the edge of independence as they grew older. Whenever he came to spend the weekend in Leeds with his boyfriend, Charlie could never quite shake just how domestic it felt.
He imagined them moving in together in the future, after they had both finished university and were preparing to truly begin their adult lives together. He pictured them slowly transforming an empty apartment or house into a home, adopting dogs together, coming home to each other after long days at work to cook a meal and settle in for a film on the couch, possibly even raising children at some point.
All of that had never seemed appealing to Charlie in the past, it was never a path he saw himself leading in life. Until he met Nick, at least. Now, that was his dream.
“I’m gonna marry you someday, too.” Charlie whispered back, a matching grin creeping upon his lips.
Nick lifted his hand from where it had been tracing light patterns on his bicep. Tears stung the corners of Charlie’s eyes as he lifted his hand to his lips, pressing his lips to Charlie’s ring finger.
He loved Nick so much that it was overwhelming at times.
Nick laced their fingers together and rested his head on Charlie’s chest, his eyes drifting shut. “I’m gonna marry you, and I’m gonna fall asleep next to you every night, just like this.”
Charlie’s eyes fell shut as well, and his free hand found its way up to comb gentle fingers through Nick’s soft hair.
Into the night, he whispered “I can’t wait.”